
in our approach to life, we must be flexible, not rigid... because, even when we're "absolutely right"...we can still be wrong.
how is that possible?
there's this math problem that goes around every few years... seems to always get people quite riled up. (hmmm? none of that kind of thing ever happens in our culture, does it? like when discussing important issues, politics, chosen world views, belief systems...) and, the rhetoric always gets heated. ok, not heated. just plain ugly! "you're an idiot!" "you don't know 3rd grade math!" "I know the rules, because I am a Math teacher!"
the "problem": 6÷2(1+2)= ?
the "answer"? ... well, it is not so clear...
"Once and for all, the answer is 9!" - Math Professor
"Google Calculator said that 6/2(1+2) is 9, but the answer is 1." -Math Ed Major
"...my Casio scientific calculator: 6/2*3 = 9 and 6/2(3) = 1" -Math "Expert"
the real answer is the "answer" is not consistent, because the problem is not clearly written. the problem is ambiguous. therefore, traditional order of operation rules, or basic Algebra rules can be applied with different resulting answers that are both "correct". because the "rules" are implied and not specified, it is simply a poor question...
we need to be much more open to looking at things in different ways. there is really not much in life that is "black or white" ... that has an absolute definitive answer.
"The green reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the mighty oak which breaks in a storm." -Confucius
"Free yourself from the rigid conduct of tradition and open yourself to the new forms of probability." -Hans Bender
“If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” -Bruce Lee
"I have no patience for anyone who thinks they've figured things out, no patience for people who think they're right at the expense of everyone else. The world is too connected and too complicated to conform to any of our rigid ideas of what it should be like." -Moby
#living #flexibility #neweyes #awareness #awake #discovery #spirit #math